Learning to Be a Man

If you’ve ever attempted to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch, it’s highly likely the recipe you used was the Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe found on the bag of Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chips. And I’m going to go out on a limb and say you liked it. You should, it’s a kick-ass recipe. And considering how many of us buy pre-made store bought cookies, the occasional scratch cookie is always going to be better. Always.

But what if I told you we could make it better. I’m not talking about a different recipe. God knows there are thousands of chocolate chip cookie recipes out there and I’ve made my share of them. But you find yourself going back to the staples. Back to the workhorse recipes like Nestle’s.

Today I’m going to tell you a few things you can do to elevate this recipe to a whole new level. Read more

I’m working on an inexpensive outdoor kitchen right now, which I’ll blog about soon. Of course one of the most important aspects of every outdoor kitchen is your grill or cooking apparatus. Whether it’s a charcoal or gas grill, you have to build your kitchen to work with what you have.

Since I have two Webers and hopefully a third coming soon, I built my kitchen differently. Instead of building around the grills, I’m instead making the grills adapt to the kitchen. Basically, I want my grills to be mobile. I have essentially created a bullpen for the grills. I line them up and only pull out the one I need at the time and then park it next to my kitchen. With the Weber Charcoal grill, it comes with wheels and a handle so you can move it around.

The Smokey Mountain Cooker, however, is super lame and doesn’t have wheels. You pretty much plant it and leave it there for its entire life. Or if you want to move it, you have to take it apart and move the pieces or carry the entire thing.

The Five years ago, I convinced my wife to leave her life and pretty good job to come live with me in Los Angeles. I don’t know how I did it. I must be some kind of superhero and my power is to convince beautiful women to drop everything for me. Fortunately, I’ve only ever used my powers on her.

Like most young couples just starting out, our first apartment was pretty small. It was studio in DC. How we lived there without murdering each other is beyond me. Our second place was a one bedroom in West Hollywood. Then our third apartment was a two bedroom in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles. Each place got progressively larger. But they each had one thing in common: not enough closet space. Read more

Some people in the south call it swamp water. Some people call it half and half but its true name is Arnold Palmer and it’s the greatest drink ever bestowed upon man by the god Dionysus.

In its simplest terms it’s part iced tea and part lemonade.

It starts with your iced tea.

Okay, so although I said I would tell you how to make a perfect iced tea, the reality is some of this will depend on your setup and how you like it. But “how to…” titles get more clicks. So you’ve been duped. Deal with it. Read more

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I'm a writer in Los Angeles. I'm in my mid-thirties and I'm still trying to figure out what it means to be a man. Come here to watch me fuck it up.
You can read some of my writing at The Way I Remember It. If you're looking for a digital agency check out my company Something Creative. And last, but not least, if you're a dog owner and want some of the most amazing dog sh*t bags, check out my company Biz Bagz.